mattl1983

I live in the UK and am looking at buying a 2005 or 2006 SC281, but was wondering if I couldget some info please?

1. Is there more than one variant of the SC281 in this year - i saw an extreme edition?
2. Am i right in thinking that in standard form they are around the 465bhp mark
3. What are the standard performance figures?
4.I saw in another thread that there specific things to look out for which identify it as a genuine saleen sc281, anyone know what these are in this model?

I have seen a couple for sale on UK sites, namely

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/359925.htm

and

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/253234.htm

Both of these boast the JDM stage 2 upgrade - is this a common upgrade? Does it normally boost power to around the 515bhp mark?

Any other relevant info would be great.

Thanks very much for any help and sorry if these are common questions.

sowaxeman

First things first, lets get a little grammatical error out of the way. The cars are called S-281's, or S-281 SC's S is for Saleen, 281 is the motor, and SC is of course the supercharged option [8D]

From 2005 to 2007 there was a S-281 3 Valve, a S-281 SC and a S-281 E model options. The hp varied each year, but basically the S-281 SC had 400hp in 2005, 435hp in 2006 and I believe 465hp was standard (which included the Saleen 465hp upgrade kit) in 2007. You will see a lot of '05 and '06 S-281 SC's out there with the Saleen kit or the JDM kit that are putting out 465 or more hp. I don't know the specs on the JDM stage 2 kit, but ~500hp sounds about right as I thought it was putting it in the neighborhood of the Extremes....which was 500hp.

As for whether the car left Saleen as a 3 Valve, SC or Extreme you would need to call Saleen directly to verify that by the VIN and the Saleen serial number.

BTW - we have two members in here that are from the UK with blue S-281 SC's so perhaps that car is one of theirs [&:]

eolson

The 515hp would be correct if that persons JDM upgrade included a 10lb 3.4 pulley which considered with about a 12.5 drivetrain loss sounds correct at a Dyno-jet rwhp of about 445rwhp. This would generally produce an estimated 515 flywheel hp. That kit would include gapped spark plugs from JDM, the cold air kit with conical filter(replacing air box), as well as a 90mm mass air sensor, properly re-configured vaccum lines all putting boost to the SC.

The stock Saleen cars have to meet California Air ratings on 91 octane fuel and be warrentied with Ford, so their vaccum line arrangement, their ignition timing, the 6lb 3.8 pulley, and their programmed tunes with leaner air to fuel ratios are all designed towards having to meet these regulations and engine warranty specs. The JDM tunes do not have to do that, and are free to use smaller pulleys, better A/F ratios(running a bit richer) and safer ignition timing with correct vaccum line arrangements. More power with less worry, if your willing to void warranty I'm assuming. Erik

mattl1983

great, thanks very much for the info and sorry for the grammar error.

I think I'll try and get a 06 or 07 281 SC with the JDM Stage 2 upgrade. Would really like the extreme, but I think finding one in the UK will be quite hard.

thanks again

cbgammel05

whoops...hahahaha i've always said SC281...now i know! learn something new everyday!

sowaxeman

No problem fellas - I just like to help set my fellow Saleeners down the correct path for when they start talking about these cars with other enthusiasts and future enthusiasts. It all starts with the pronunciation of Saleen (its Suh-leen, not Say-leen in case you didn't know) and of course continues with the proper model designations

Pony on

My enthusiasm leads me to believe the 06-07 S-281 Extremes come with 550 hp.

sowaxeman

500, 550 - whatever it takes Thanks for the correction